


not the villain i appear to be

by dvntldr



Category: Dangan Ronpa - All Media Types, New Dangan Ronpa V3: Everyone's New Semester of Killing
Genre: Gen, Oma Kokichi Needs a Hug, Sad Oma Kokichi, Suffering Momota Kaito, no beta we die like kokichi, too lazy to tag lol, you can read this as oumota if you want i guess
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-28
Updated: 2021-01-28
Packaged: 2021-03-14 05:28:58
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29040900
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/dvntldr/pseuds/dvntldr
Summary: kokichi’s final moments.
Relationships: Momota Kaito & Oma Kokichi
Comments: 1
Kudos: 48





	not the villain i appear to be

Contrary to what Kaito must be thinking, Kokichi feels nothing at all as he clambers up to lay flat on the large press. The freezing metal is made less cold thanks to the astronaut’s warm jacket and he finds himself ridiculously grateful for it even though it’s needed for their plan. 

He expects Kaito to just push the button and leave. What he doesn’t expect is for the older to come and sit next to him. “What are you doing?” he snaps as the other ultimate shrugs, lips pursed. This is the most serious he’s seen Kaito...well, ever, really. He supposes people really are at their most honest when they’re about to die. “Hurry up and press the button!”

“We still have a few minutes before the poison will spread fully, don’t we? There’s no need to rush.”

Sharp, fiery fury pools in his stomach, hot and stifling. What the hell is this moron _doing?_ “What on earth do you mean, idiot? We need to get this moving so we can end this stupid killing game once and for all.” When he sees that he isn’t getting through to Kaito, he grits his teeth and utters the words he hadn’t wanted to say. “If you wait any longer, the poison will kill me and your beloved _Maki-roll_ will be the blackened. She’ll be executed. Do you want that to happen?”

Kaito swallows tight, evidently struck by the words, but still doesn’t move and Kokichi stares at him in complete disbelief. If using Maki against him hadn’t worked, what will?

The older huffs eventually, bringing his knees up to his chest and resting his chin there. “You seem way too excited to die.” That one hits a nerve. Kokichi shuts his eyes and doesn’t speak, willing the astronaut to just push the damn button already, but Kaito does the unexpected. He reaches over and takes Kokichi’s hand.

“Listen, Oma— _Kokichi,”_ he corrects himself, and Kokichi doesn’t bother saying anything in reply at all. There’s just no point. “I just...don’t want you to do this alone. Nobody should have to...”

Fucking _Kaito Momota._ He sits up to glare icy daggers at the other male, no real hatred in his eyes. “I’ve been doing everything alone my whole life. I definitely don’t need _you_ of all people here for this last bit.”

“Yeah, I know. That’s exactly why I don’t think you should die by yourself, even if the only other person here is me.” Kaito sighs, scratching the back of his head. “If things were different...just—just humor me, okay?” Kokichi frowns in confusion, the beginnings of _something_ blooming in his chest; the same feeling he’d gotten when he had first met everyone in the gym and seen Kaito from across the room and thought, _maybe I could be his friend one day_ before everything had gone to shit _._

He sees now that they could never have been friends, at least in this lifetime. Kokichi had an important if regrettable part to play, because every hero like Kaede and Shuichi and Kaito needed a villain to rise up against. Monokuma and the Mastermind just wouldn’t work because they were too abstract a concept; they needed a _real_ villain they could see with their own eyes, who they could work together against. And if Kaito was always destined to be a hero, well. They just never would have worked, not in a world where only one side could win.

But Kaito’s not a hero anymore, and he’s no villain, at least not now that he’s lying on this press. They’re just two pawns working together to try to checkmate a king. So, maybe...

“Are you trying to recruit me to be one of your sidekicks now? Don’t you have enough already?” He asks sardonically, unable to hide the little tremble of painful, painful hope in his voice. Kaito smiles stiffly at him, protectively pulling the leader closer so they’re sitting side by side, legs touching. It’s so difficult to think that in just a few minutes, Kokichi will be dead and he will be the cause of it. 

“If you wanna be, hell yeah. We’re ending this killing game together, right? Isn’t that the sort of thing heroes and sidekicks do together?” He points out, hoping to get some semblance of a smile from Kokichi, who instead just dips his tired, aching head to stare at the floor. “A hero can never have too many sidekicks, you know.”

It’s silent for a moment, and then...

“Thanks, Kaito.” He exhales fully, squaring his shoulders before shifting to lie back down on the press, prideful till the end. Violet eyes meet lilac and Kokichi finally offers him a little smile; it’s small, barely there and filled with more genuine emotion than Kaito has ever seen on the liar’s face, but it’s a smile all the same. “I’m ready. Hit the button. I’ll be fine.” 

Kaito hesitates, a multitude of grim emotions flashing blatantly on his face before he pats Kokichi’s shoulder gently and moves back to the panel with the button. The young leader shuts his suddenly tear-filled eyes, not wanting to see the press come down on him; maybe if he doesn’t open his eyes, pretends not to hear the machine whirring, he can imagine he’s somewhere else, far, far away. Not to mention there’s no reason for him to fake his expressions anymore, because this is it. If he wants to cry, he’s damn well certain that he’s going to go out doing what he wants to do. It really does say something about villains and their often tragic ends, doesn’t it?

Kaito’s hand hovers over the button before resting on it. He glances at the boy laying there on the hydraulic press, looking so, so _small_ in Kaito’s jacket, and gives himself a few seconds to fervently wish things were _different_ before pressing down on it, his hand weighed down by the weight of his sins.

Kokichi smiles bitterly as the contraption begins to hum, nostalgic for something that’s never even happened. _If things were different…_

“Goodbye, Kaito. End the killing game for me, won’t you?”

The machine whirs and whirs and whirs on for an agonisingly long time. Metal whines, shudders as it slowly settles into place, slams flat. Bone crunches, scrapes loudly and the tangy, metallic scent of blood is all Kaito can smell now.

Ending the killing game...yeah, that’s something a hero does, isn’t it?

“Bye, Kokichi.”

And he’s a fucking _hero_.

**Author's Note:**

> well this was fun. i wrote it as a warm-up but !! i think it turned out relatively okay considering i wasn’t too sure how to write kaito lmao.
> 
> tell me what u think in the comments!
> 
> and as usual, kudos & comments are my lifeblood :)


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